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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Fatboi Sharif (The Ukie Club, Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2025) [CLIPPING.]

Posted in Captain Ahab, clipping., Daveed Diggs, Fatboi Sharif, Hamilton, Open Mike Eagle, Philadelphia, PA, The Ukie Club, Ukrainian American Citizens' Association, Unnecessary Surgery on August 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 15, 2025] Fatboi Sharif.

I haven’t been to the Ukie Club for two years.  A lot of good bands play there and it’s easy to get to and to park around, but something about the club feels so young (although Ty Segall did play there and he’s not young).  The last time I was there, I wrote:

Wow was it hot in The Ukie Club.

And this time I say, holy crap was it hot in the Ukie Club!  I sweated from the second I walked in and my shirt was soaked so thoroughly that it was still wet when I got home an hour after the show ended.  There were a/c units on, but they did nothing near the stage.

I didn’t realize the show went on at 8:30 and arrived at 7:45, so I was sweating for no reason.

Around 8:30, a guy cot up on stage behind some gear and he started playing loud beats.  He talked about what he was playing and really tried to get the crowd hyped up.  I assumed this was Fatboi Sharif, but it turned out it was DJ Boogaveli, Fatboi’s DJ.

Because a little while later Fatboi Sharif came up on stage.  The music was loud and his delivery was good, but I really couldn’t follow him very clearly.  I listened to a few of his recorded songs and his delivery is much cleaner.

The fascinating thing is that he brought several guests up on stage–and then stayed to the side while the guests did their own songs.

The first guest was EightyNiner Grant who I liked.  And then came GDP who i liked less (although on Fatboi’s album, I like his delivery quite a lot).

The set was pretty enjoyable.  I would probably have liked it more if I knew his stuff already, but I am intrigued to be sure.  (He is from Rahway, NJ).

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The Flaming Lips (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Friko, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, Rainbows, The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips on August 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips eight times.  Even when they play many of the same songs a lot, it’s always a fun and joy-filled experience.

And for the first time, I was right on the barrier to see them right up close.  So close that when they deflated the pink robots, I got to touch one!

The last time we saw them it was for the Yoshimi tour which was an evening with the Lips.  So this 75 minute set was considerably shorter, but it was a great compact set with three songs I’d never heard them play before!

They opened with an instrumental from The Soft Bulletin.  This was my first exposure to the new lineup of the band.  Steven Drozd is sitting out this tour and was replaced by AJ Slaughter who I was right in front of (I admit I was bummed that I was right in front of Steven’s spot but it wasn’t him!  Although his broken double neck guitar was there!

Slaughter did a great job playing all of Drozd’s parts and even added some pedal steel guitar which was a fantastic addition to the songs.

This was also the first time I’ve seen them with only one drummer in ages.

But the fewer musicians seemed to give room to more on stage antics.  They played parts one and two of Yoshimi and there were four giant inflatable robots filling the stage.  During part two, the confetti cannons were on full blast and I was right in the middle of it all.  Wayne also shot off his hand held confetti cannons and the delight on everyone’s faces was wonderful to be a part of. (more…)

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Modest Mouse (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

Posted in Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Flaming Lips on August 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] Modest Mouse

This was my eighth time seeing Modest Mouse in ten years.  The last two times were album tours which are always fun.

I always enjoy seeing them, and this shortened set was punchy and fantastic.  And, since I had managed to get on the barrier, I was right there to watch it all.  I was right in front of Simon O’Connor on guitar and behind him was Keith Karman on keys.

I hadn’t realized that Isaac is the only original member of the band left.  But they are a cohesive unit and it seemed pretty clear that Isaac was having fun up there.

I couldn’t really see Damon Cox on drums because Simon was blocking him, but I had a great view of percussionist Ben Masarella who is so much fun to watch–he adds so many interesting sounds to the songs and he holds them up front to get a full sound, so you get to see him pick up some randomly shaped object and see what it’s going to sound like.

Bassist Russel Higbee was pretty far away but it was fun to watch him from time to time. (more…)

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Friko (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

Posted in Friko, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Flaming Lips on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] Friko

 

I was really excited for this show–two of my favorite bands playing together.

I arrived roughly at 7, expecting to maybe miss the first song of the opener.  But no.  And not only that, I walked down to the pit (I was so excited to get pit tickets) and walked right up to the barrier.  So I was front and left for the entire night.

The night started with Friko, a young band from Chicago.  I’d listened to them ahead of time and enjoyed them, but I was so impressed by their live show.

I was delighted to be in front of Korgan Robb on guitar who was wringing all kinds of interesting sounds out of his guitar.  And since I was right in front of him, I got to watch him mess with his pedals and then find out what he was about to create.

Although it turns out that he is not actually part of the band.  Friko is presently a duo Niko Kapetan sings and plays guitar and and Bailey Minzenberger is the drummer.  For this tour in addition to Korgan, they had David Fuller on bass. (more…)

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An Evening with Wilco (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Wilco on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 5, 2025] An Evening with Wilco

Nothing could have excited me more than an evening with Wilco.  They are an amazing live band and I would have been so excited to be in the pit for this one.

So why didn’t I go?

Because I already had tickets that night to see Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips–in the pit at the Mann Center.  True I’d seen both bands seven times already, but never from the pit!

So it was a tough choice, but I couldn’t do both.

Sounds like it was a great night.  But so was mine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025
Islands of Men ©
Jesse ⊗
Tomorrow’s Crusades Ø
Cocaine ©
Half Real ©
2122 Ø (with Interstellar Overdrive” Pink Floyd)
Cowboy Nudes Ø
Taxes ©
4D Contry ⊗
St. Elmo Ø

© G3 (2025)
⊗ 4D Country
Ø 3D Country

 

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Chinese Lantern Festival (Franklin Square Park, Philadelphia, PA, August 4, 2025)

Posted in Chinese Lantern Festival, Franklin Square Park, Philadelphia, PA on August 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 4, 2025] Chinese Lantern Festival

Last year I was driving near Franklin Square Park on my way somewhere else and I saw a huge Chinese Lantern Festival. I looked it up and thought it would be really fun to go to.  But it was just about to end, so we missed out.  Happily it returned this year and I grabbed us some tickets.

It was wonderful!

The entrance was a long walkway with lit lanterns strewn throughout.  We arrived before it got dark and it was delightful to see the park grow brighter as the sky darkened.

There were different areas throughout the park and the lanterns were thematic–underwater, pandas, zodiac and a giant dragon.

There was a lot of food to be had (we got some dumplings, my kids wanted to get cotton candy but the line was really long).  There were vendors selling interesting Chinese goods and there were more and more things to look at the more you walked around the park.

It was really cool to walk back through the archway on the way out when it was very dark out and the lanterns were very bright.

I’m not sure if we’ll go back next year, but it was a really fun evening.

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The Swell Season (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova) (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 29, 2025)

Posted in Glen Hansard, lnterference, Marketa Irglova, Once, Philadelphia, PA, Snacktime, The Frames, The Swell Season, Van Morrison on July 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 29, 2025] The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)

Three years ago my wife and I saw Glen and Marketa (interestingly announced as Glen and Marketa of The Swell Season) and the show was wonderful.  So when they came back around (this time announced as The Swell Season) I grabbed tickets right away.  (Incidentally, The Swell Season is the formal name of this duo–Glen has several other bands as well.

We were delighted to be reasonably close and right in the middle.

And there were to be lots of surprises tonight.  Glen and Marketa were joined by a bass player and drummer (whose names I don’t recall).  But before the first song started, they had a big surprise–four member of Snacktime came out to play horns on several of the tracks.  Glen explained that he had met Snacktime at the Newport Folk Festival and since they were going to be in Philly at the same time, he asked them to join him on a few songs.  I’m not typically a fan of horns, but their horns added so much depth to these songs, it was terrific.

And what was so much fun was that Glen instructed them how to play some of the songs while on stage–almost like an improved jam session.  The opened with Low Rising and Glen asked them to stick around for any songs that seemed good to have horns on.

The Swell Season just released a new record and they played all of the songs from it (except A Little Sugar).  But as I told my wife, I don’t really listen to The Swell Season all that much, but everything I hear from Glen (especially live) I enjoy immensely.

After a couple of new songs they played When Your Mind’s Made Up and the crowd was rapt as their gorgeous voices (and that piano) melded beautifully.

They played a few songs that they’d played last time, and that’s great because those are obviously the catchiest ones.  They played a few of Glen’s solo songs (three in total) but none of Marketa’s solo songs–although she did get some gorgeous solo moments where it was just her and her piano and her voice is still gorgeous.  This was especially evident on I Leave Everything to You, which Glen said was so beautiful as soon as he heard it he knew it would be the centerpiece of the album and the tour. (more…)

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TV on the Radio / Soul Glo (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, July 29, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Soul Glo, TV on the Radio on July 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 12, 2025] TV on the Radio / Soul Glo

I loved the first three TV on the Radio albums. Not sure I ever listened to the other two (Acually I loved Happy Idiot, but probably don’t know anything else from that album).  But that last album came out over ten years ago so I never thought they’d tour, especially since singer Tunde Adebimpe had just released a (very successful) solo album.

But holy cow when they announced this tour, I wanted in so badly!  But it happened to be on the same night as The Swell Season, which my wife and I didn’t want to miss.

So I had to pass by TV on the Radio.  Will they ever tour again?  Who knows.

Soul Glo as the opening band added a frenetic tone that I wouldn’t have expected from TV on the Radio.  They are a wild live band and I hope got more fans from this show.

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Phantom Island Tour with Sarah Hicks, Conductor & Music Director, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and DJ Crenshaw (TD Pavilion Stage at the Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2025)

Posted in DJ Crenshaw, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA on July 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2025] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Phantom Island Tour with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

Last summer I had tickets to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at the Dell Music Center.  The place is a chaotic mess and massive traffic, lack of parking and extreme heat meant that I circled the area and then said the heck with it and went home.  I was a little bummed, but not outrageously.  (The setlist is really good though).

When they announced this tour with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, at the Mann Center, I knew it would be a good venue and I knew it would be a good introduction to them for my son.

We arrived with time to spare, bought some merch and then got in our seats for DJ Crenshaw.  I don’t entirely see the point of someone like this.  He was a live DJ spinning song before the band went on.  Most of the songs were loud and distorted and honestly I couldn’t even tell you what he played.

But soon enough, the lights went down and the orchestra came out.

In many ways this was not the ideal first show for a KGLW newbie as they played their new album in its entirety, but the second set ran through a whole pile of their songs and my son was hooked.

The orchestra came out first (as they do) and Sarah Hicks received a sizable round of applause.  And soon enough the album kicked off.  The orchestra made the album sound huge! (more…)

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Lucy Dacus / Julien Baker & Torres / Jay Som / Hop Along // Magdalena Bay / Remi Wolf / Annie Di Russo [A Make the World Better Benefit] (FDR Park, Philadelphia PA, July 25 & 27, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Annie DiRusso, Dell Music Center, Hop Along, Jay Som, Johnny Brenda's, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Magdalena Bay, Make the World Better, Philadelphia, PA, Torres on July 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 25 & 27, 2025] Lucy Dacus / Julien Baker & Torres / Jay Som / Hop Along // Magdalena Bay / Remi Wolf / Annie Di Russo

Like every one of these benefits shows, the first day was made for me.

I love Lucy Dacus, although I have seen her twice this year already.

I would love to have seen Julien Baker & Torres together.  They cancelled all of their shows this summer and were replaced by Hop Along which was fine, but not as good as the original.  Interestingly, perhaps, Hop Along was supposed to open for Japanese Breakfast last year but they were replaced at the last minute.

Jay Som is a favorite underground artist whom I love and who has been pretty quiet as of late.

Day 2 was less exciting for me.

Remi Wolf is someone I’ve h heard about but don’t really know.  She appeared on American Idol so I assume she’s not someone I would like, even if she is listed as an indie artist.  I saw that she opened for Lorde in 2022 (which I didn’t go to) and back then I wrote

Remi Wolf is a singer songwriter whom I do not know.  The fact that she appeared on American Idol in 2014 makes me not like her.  That’s unfair, but whatever.

At least I’m consistent.

Magdalena Bay is a duo (I thought it was someone’s name, oops).  The duo consists of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, who met in high school.  They play synthy pop and I really like their song “Image” although the rest is more pop than alternative.  Dancy and probably a treat to listen to on a sunny summer day.

Annie DiRusso was the only person on the bill for both days whom I had never heard of.  She’s an interesting young musician who veers to the noisy while writing poppy songs.  She also sings about college and wrote a song called Ovid.  So she appeals to that side of my musical appreciation.  The Harvard Crimson (!) review says

The album is an evolution of her usual guitar-heavy rock instrumentals, experimenting with incorporating different genres while still maintaining a cohesive sound across the record.

I hope she opens for someone I’m seeing one of these days.

So why didn’t I go to Day One?  Well, I didn’t really need to see Lucy again.  Plus, this was in FDR Park which I know nothing about and I have really bad luck with outdoor venues in Philly.  So while I fully support the cause, I just wasn’t willing to make the effort for this one.  And obvsiously Day Two wasn’t my scene.

 

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